On Open Letter From "No On D" Consultant John Lewis

Former Senator John Lewis, the lead consultant for the No on Measure D campaign, asked if I would post this "open letter" here on the venerable OC Blog. I, of course, graciously agreed:

It took a great team effort to turn a “sure win” initiative into a landslide loss at the polls.  I want to publicly acknowledge and thank those members of the No on D team who went the extra mile in this campaign leading to our decisive win yesterday.

I first want to thank Sheriff Mike Carona.  It was the Sheriff who encouraged me to accept this campaign task and who lobbied Wayne Quint and AOCDS to bring us aboard.  Among other things, Sheriff Carona was instrumental in providing the financing that allowed the Orange County Republican Party to send out their very effective Republican slate mailing which prominently featured No on D.

Wayne Quint and Nick Berardino did their respective memberships at AOCDS and OCEA proud.  Nobody worked harder than these two and their association memberships are lucky to have these two bulldogs at the helm.

A special note of thanks goes out to all five Orange County Supervisors – Chairman Bill Campbell, Vice Chairman Tom Wilson, Jim Silva, Chris Norby and Lou Correa, whose steadfastness and unanimity on this issue was rewarded by the voters.  Particular thanks goes out to the Board Chair Bill Campbell for his leadership from day one on this issue.  Mark Denny deserves special recognition for the weekends and after hours he surrendered to this campaign.  Supervisor Chris Norby deserves to be singled out as well.  His passion and enthusiasm for sound public policy were on display throughout this campaign.  Eric Norby and Bruce Whitaker of Chris’ staff also contributed in many ways.

Once the Republican Party endorsed the No on D effort, Scott Baugh became an effective communicator on behalf of the effort.  Hours before the Republican Party endorsed, the California Republican Assembly endorsed as well.  Special thanks to Scott Voigts for his efforts in securing such an important endorsement.

A number of high profile Orange County political leaders like Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido stuck their necks out when this issue was in doubt.  District Attorney Tony Rackauckas was with this campaign from the beginning and he was later joined by Senator Dick Ackerman, Assembly members Todd Spitzer and Chuck DeVore and a number of local elected officials including four of my favorites, Mission Viejo Councilman Frank Ury, Westminster Councilman Kermit Marsh, Anaheim Councilman Harry Sidhu and President of the Orange County Board of Education Alexandria Coronado.  State Senator Tom McClintock’s willingness to endorse in an Orange County campaign was a huge plus for the campaign.

Needless to say Matt Holder, Chris Jones and I have collaborated on a number of campaigns in the past, but this was the first time that as a group we worked with campaign wiz Pete Mitchell.  Together we crafted and executed a solid blueprint for victory.

A big thanks to Jubal, Green Machine, and the Sarge for keeping our morale up.  Lastly, props go to all the hundreds of volunteers who walked precincts, phone banked and hung signs.

Thanks to everyone for one helluva ride.

Cordially,

John Lewis

De nada, Senator.

Comments

[Dana Point Watcher]

Senator Lewis forgot to mention Dana Point City Councilman Jim “Winners Circle” Lacy. Having him on the opposing side of you almost assures you a victory. Too bad Lacy did not come out against the Governor’s reform measures, it might have been a different story last night

[Jerry Amante]

Congratulations, Senator to you...and to all who worked on the camapign and took a stand. It was a sound and solid victory and well deserved!

[Screech]

This will go down in history as the noisiest, costliest, and at the same time the most worthless special election ever.

Hundreds of millions of dollars spent on lies and distortions on both sides.

I am not talking only about measure D, though that was certainly a big part of it.

We should have an initiative to repeal prop 172 and Measure M and cut the sales tax correspondingly. It would be a 13% decrease in sales tax. A worthy goal, huh?

[MrWhipple]

"Hundreds of millions of dollars spent on lies and distortions on both sides."

Screech: Can you give me an example of "lies and distortions" on the side supporting Props 74–77?

[Green Machine]

Mr. Lewis,

Thank you for your acknowledgement. All I've got to say is...Thank God you're on our side! Your blueprint was masterful and our Association was fortunate to obtain the assistance of your winning team!

I know that you obviously don't need my advice, based on the 75% to 25% win you garnered, but as a casual outside observer, the incredibly prevalent presence of all those blue and red "YES ON D" signs that littered the county would have suggested a 75% win for YES- especially with how many voters simply vote with whom they think will win.

Anyhow, I had two suggestions for future signage.

1. Wait till the "Steal money from law enforcement" group gets their signage made up, then make up nearly identical signage only have these say "NO" or "YES" on the same measure--whatever is opposite of theirs.

2. I think the plain red and white signage that NO ON D used was plain. Although that was obviously successful, I would have gone with a simple sign that said only, "OC Firefighters earn $175,000 / year!" Then a small line at the bottom that indicates this is an average over the OCFA and includes their entire benefits packet.

Just that "OC Firefighters earn $175,000 / year!" message bright and clear will catch passing motorists' eyes and make them recoil in horror thinking, "I don't make anywhere near that much, and all I ever see them do is go to the grocery store."

Anyhow, just something I wanted to suggest for the next go-round.

[Sergeant]

I appreciate the letter and the nice comments from John Lewis and I am glad that Tin Star Blog was able to contribute, in some small measure, to the massive effort to defeat Measure D.

The individuals and organizations that came together to work against the firefighter's ballot initiative were outstanding and the results exceeded expectations! The campaign team was outstanding as well and are to be congratulated and thanked for a job well done!

I would echo Senator Lewis' comments regarding Green Machine and also highlight and praise the efforts of Jubal and OCBlog in creating a blogosphere forum for a real time discussion, debate and vetting of the issues.

Equally important was the real time feedback provided to the blogosphere by blogs, especially OCBlog, on matters related to the campaign that in the past would have been left for an afteraction report, forgotten or ignored due to the timing cycles of the main stream media (even the OC Register understands this and maintains their own blog which also made a significant contribution to this election cycle).

I would say that the blogosphere played a role in the campaign against Measure D and it is a role that will likely expand and cannot certainly be ignored by future campaigns or candidates. Blogs will need to be a part of a valid campaign strategy.

So, congratulations to Jubal, the Blogpen and OC Blog for your contributions! It was appreciated as well! Thanks.

See you on the next one!

[elliot N.]

I was suspect the next sign you will see Joe Kerr and his E-Board holding, (after their members oust them) will say;

"Will Work For Food."

[Jim Lacy]

Congratulations John and your team. You ran a focused and very effective campaign. The election has resolved any doubt about intentions re: 172 funding in OC.

Elections are rarely, if ever, won or lost on lawn signs.
In my opinion, they are a nuisance - a waste of resources (time and money) and just end up causing problems (infamous wars of disappearing signs).

[anon is the way of the internet]

Mr. Whipple said "Screech: Can you give me an example of "lies and distortions" on the side supporting Props 74–77?"

The last ad I saw for Prop 76 said if I did not vote yes and give the Governor the power, then my taxes were going up.

A simple, if you don't, this is the punishment. now we both know taxes don't just go up by a no vote on a prop, but that was the pure, and solid message given by the ad.

I would think that qualifies as distortion, do you?

Then the best misdirection was prop 75. To op out of the PAC collection, was not opt'ing out of the union. One could do both, by becoming a agency payer, and opting out of the PAC. BUT, opting out of the PAC did not eliminate, or cause you to lose any union benefit or representation. Becoming an agency payer does.

Should they ask every year? Yes, but not face to face, a simple form would be fine. Can you opt out if you wish now? yes. Do you get punished? Have not seen or heard of anyone being done so, does that mean it does not happen? NO, I ain't that naive. Should it be in the California constitution? No.